Red Sox to open 2014 on March 31 in Baltimore

The Red Sox will open the 2014 season on the road, playing at Camden Yards against the Orioles on March 31, according to the team’s tentative schedule, which was released Tuesday.

It will be the earliest Opening Day for the Sox since 2008, when they began the season in Japan against the Oakland Athletics.

.This will be the fourth straight year that Boston has opened on the road. But the road trip won’t be a long one.

After the three-game series in Baltimore, the Sox will come home and open Fenway Park on April 4 with an interleague series against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Texas Rangers will also come to town during the opening six-game homestand...The Red Sox and Yankees will meet early, squaring off at Yankee Stadium for a four-game series April 10-13. The Yankees return to Fenway for a series from April 22-24.

Other interleague visitors in 2014 will be the Cincinnati Reds (May 6-7), Atlanta Braves (May 28-29) and Theo Epstein’s Chicago Cubs (June 30-July 2)...This will mark just the second time the Cubs have played regular-season games in Boston. Shortly after the Cubs leave, the White Sox are at Fenway from July 7-10.

The Red Sox will play their first series in a National League park when they visit Atlanta’s Turner Field, May 26-27 for two games that immediately precede the Braves’ two-game set at Fenway...The Sox will have a tough June, with 19 road games in six cities — Cleveland, Detroit, Baltimore, Oakland, Seattle and New York.Boston’s visits to National League cities include St. Louis, which the Sox have not visited since 2005. The three-game set from Aug. 5-7 and will mark the first time the Sox have played in the Cardinals’ new Busch Stadium. From St. Louis, the Sox will play three games in Anaheim against the Angels before a two-game series in Cincinnati against the Reds...The last trip to a National League city for the Red Sox will be at PNC Park against the Pirates from Sept. 16-18.

Boston’s last homestand of the season will include games aganst the Rays Sept. 23-25 and the Yankees Sept. 26-28...